Search Exotic Incidents Database

A mountain lion at the Phoenix Zoo gashed a 5-year-old’s arm after he wandered too close to the animal’s cage and waved a stick at the animal.

A 9-ft-long “pet” python escaped from its home after being placed in the possessor’s backyard. Ten days later a neighbor spotted the snake under her window.

Two elephants with Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus became agitated and went on a rampage, triggering panic among spectators. Seven spectators were treated for minor injuries.

A 28-year-old man was bitten on his hands twice by his “pet” cobra. He was admitted to the hospital in critical condition and was on life-support equipment. Later his condition was upgraded to serious. The man had at least a dozen poisonous snakes, which he kept as “pets.”

An 8-month-old infant contracted a Salmonella infection from the family’s “pet” boa constrictor. The infant had diarrhea and other symptoms. The state’s Division of Consolidated Laboratories discovered that the Salmonella organisms in the snake’s droppings were a rare subtype of the bacterium. This was the same rare subtype recovered from the infant.

Jennifer and Clyde, two rhesus monkeys, escaped from their home. Clyde bit an Animal Control officer. The two monkeys were illegally owned in violation of a town ordinance.

Customs officers and police officers seized a “pet” monkey after a neighbor reported the monkey might be infected with herpes B. The animal was to be tested for tuberculosis and various other viruses, including Herpes B.

A “pet” Asian jungle cat mauled a woman’s 2-year-old niece. The girl required 200 stitches.

A “pet” monkey grabbed a kitchen knife and a cigarette lighter and went on an eating binge in a house, holding police at bay for nearly 2 hours, during which time the animal bit two women. The monkey was subsequently caught but died in the cage. This animal had escaped from its home the day before.

Two elephants with Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus went on a rampage at a mall, smashing store windows and damaging cars. One of the elephants had killed a woman in 1985.